Faced with crisis, FRANCISCO SOUSA LOBO neither flees nor succumbs to fear. He makes his quiet and deliberate way along perpetually shaky ground, in between falling structures, amidst occluding debris, and steps through portholes blasted open by crisis into previously unknown worlds and questions whose limits and answers are ever out of reach (if they even exist). From his journeys, Francisco sends comics, videos, blueprints, readings, writings that are at times unsettling–for Francisco reports from a “beyond” that is often “beyond familiar“–and always a testament to his resolute lucidity and honesty.

Francisco is in the final stretch of his art PhD at Goldsmiths, London. He has a past in Printmaking and Architecture. He is now mostly devoted to comics. His books are usually published by Associação Chili Com Carne. Recent works include The Dying Draughtsman (2013) and A Private View (2014). The publication of the following books are also forthcoming: A Desert God (about a week spent in a Carthusian monastery), The Upper Room (about the human brain) and The Care of Birds (about Peter Hickey, an Irish birdwatcher). You can find more about Francisco at www.franciscosousalobo.com.

FRANCISCO WRITES

“Crisis Song, or A Song for Kyoung is an attempt to convey my research and practice in a simple song. I tried to be serious about it but soon gave up. The song is that left over. I used to sing in amateur choirs but was not very good at it. For Crisis Song I picked up my son’s ukelele and decided to record without practising, leaving the mistakes apparent, a bit like I do in my comic books.”

LYRICS TO FRANCISCO’S CRISIS SONG, or A SONG FOR KYOUNG

my ‘search is called
crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

one time I went to gold
smiths felt like a dog and the old
tricks
one time I went to gold
smiths. There I was told
what’s up with

crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

I said crisis is the axis
I said form is the norm
crisis is where I have been
form is where I am gone

crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

so I started doing comics
and not as a game
trying to battle these concepts
in the small frame
the game is

crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

I started on a new prism on nihilism
what if Nietzsche couldn’t teach ya
about all those little bits of Christianity
that are left unattended
when the lights are off and the night has ended

crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

so I am searching for crumbs
snippets of wisdom
in the way of Robert Crumb
and the reason of vision

I am looking for answers
but not too fast
for is what is definitively
meant to last is

crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

now I am writing chapter
after chapter
and I am afraid I will end up
with lots of chatter

one thing I know
and that’s for sure
is that I will end up
with lots of pure

crisis, crisis of meaning
crisis, crisis of form

and now before
I get to say goodbye
please tell me you misread me
I’ll say it’s all a lie

we’ll go our separate ways
as in a daze
if someone asks you
if I am ok
just say